MRSG's Achievements in the past year

As you read through the incredible list of achievements by MRSG’s many action and project groups in the past 12 or so months you could be forgiven for under-estimating the tremendous difficulties under which many of these achievements took place. The year 2021, even more than the previous one, was the time of lockdowns, of strict health and social distancing rules, a time of interminable Zoom sessions, a very unsettled time where for a greater part of the period there seemed to be no end in sight for a return to normal. It was a time where you could not plan live events or projects ahead without risking sudden lockdowns and cancellations. Heading towards summer, we seem to have a way forward now of living with the continuing presence of COVID-19 and its Delta and other variants.

In spite of the uncertainties and interruptions of the past year, MRSG membership continues to climb, nudging very close to the 500 mark as at the time of writing in November 2021 (compared to 157 in April 2017).

MRSG Member Count 3/2017 to 11/2021

My intention in both the photo gallery above and the list of bullet points below is to give a sample overview rather than a comprehensive report of the projects and events over the past 12 or so months. I think that this overview clearly testifies to the tenacity, determination and commitment of our action group leaders, of our committee, our members and our volunteers, to promoting community in the Macedon Ranges and making it a more attractive and sustainable place to live.

The list of people whom we ought to thank is extensive. A particular thank you to the Mayor, Cr Jennifer Anderson, and all of the Councillors, on their constant support to MRSG and for their declaration of a Climate Emergency earlier this year, to the staff of the Macedon Ranges Shire Council, with whom we see ourselves as working in close partnership, with the staff of the various Neighbourhood/Community Houses and libraries in the region, our supporters and partners including DELWP and ENEA, our action group leaders and their teams, the members of the Committee, Nikki Barker and Jenna Dalton, and of course all you members and volunteers of the Macedon Ranges Sustainability Group..

Dr David Gormley-O’Brien, President MRSG

 

Sustainable Development

Susan McNab

  1. Provided guidance and templates for people to participate in the process of formally lodging planning permit objections with the Macedon Ranges Shire Council (MRSC) for unsustainable, economically and environmentally harmful developments.

  2. Lobbied the shire council to encourage sustainable development and make them aware of local support for sustainable development practices

  3. Fund-raised to support legal cases

  4. Represented Kyneton residents in a subdivision of land VCAT case where the developer wants to wipe out a wetland and build a petrol station very close to a waterway in Kyneton

  5. Appeared before the Macedon Ranges Shire Council at a planning meeting on behalf of MRSG to oppose poor quality development and support sustainable development.

  6. Made a presentation to sustainable development project developers and worked to encourage them

  7. Currently involved in two major cases before the Victorian Civil Administration Tribunal, VCAT to prevent a planning permit being issued to developers which would destroy a wetland and create a new outer Melbourne suburb style concrete heavy town centre at Edgecombe Road in Kyneton.

Woodend Farmers’ Market

Matty Be

Rain, hail or shine, we continued to run a Farmers’ Market every month, providing both stall holders and visitors a COVID safe market.

  1. Improved our relationship with VFMA, who are now adopting our COVID safe market processes and market direction and sharing it with other markets as a positive way to run a market.

  2. Working with local community social media pages, promoted Farmers’ Market as not only an essential service but also a community hub.

  3. Introduced a “SUPERHERO” volunteer acknowledgement program on social media, which is changing the attitude of volunteering within the community by making it fun using flashcards acknowledging volunteers as HERO’s. We have “FIRST TIMER” volunteers at every market, along with many returning volunteers.

  4. Introduced our very own TOWN CRIER to inform the community of events within the Macedon Ranges throughout the month and bring further attention towards the Farmers’ Market being a community hub, food and information.

  5. Increased our social media presence to have 6,141 Facebook followers and 1,782 Instagram followers by using targeted marketing campaigns.

  6. Worked with MRSC to step through new VicRoads regulations for temporary signage, so that we could again put up WCFM temporary signage before market day. MRSC have asked if they can use our signage as the template they issue out to others wanting to do the same.

  7. Brought stall holders on to become MRSG members by offering a free standard stall to all MRSG members – 21 so far……

  8. Branching into the community to increase our corporate membership with local businesses, which have also included RT Edgar sponsoring the WCFM with a branded marquee.

  9. Included a successful Mini SLF within the market and managed the weather on the day, using faerie blood sugar market magick

Veg Action

Claire Rowland

  1. Hosted numerous social events - including a plant based cheese night, seasonal veg parties, a movie night, and monthly (where possible) cafe catch-ups to build community and connection around eating more veg

  2. Our Facebook group now has 697 members who want to eat more veg and our Facebook page has 247 followers/ 276 likes. We send out a semi regular newsletter as well.

  3. Hosted the 2nd Annual Winter Veg Competition to promote the value of seasonal eating. An ebook of recipes will be released soon

  4. Won a grant to host the Edgy Veg Awards in 2022, promoting plant based dishes in cafes in the region. This concept was developed as part of cool changes process, and in collaboration with Cobaw Health.

  5. Won a MRSC small grant to create the “get to know your grower” website, to be launched in Jan 2022, in collaboration with Cobaw Health.

Wash against Waste Trailer

Rob Bruhn

  1. Successfully trialled wash trailer at Woodend Community Farmers’ Market

  2. Moving to phase two in encouraging the trailer’s use at other Farmers’ Markets in the region

Kyneton Transition Hub

Nea Gyorffy

  1. KTH continued with the social connectivity activities as a matter of priority eg weekly 'cuppa ' on Fridays, keeping in touch and helping each other.

  2. We have became proficient at zoom meetings and made sure we could find good stories of climate change action here and around the world.

  3. We hope to resume the KTH produce swap at the Kyneton Farmers market in December and have some new members to help.

  4. Our mantra of growing your own food, maintaining resilience and finding your inner strength are all important objectives of these times.

 

Waste

Joslin Moore

  1. A terracycle station at Malmsbury farmers market (in collaboration with Sustainable Malmsbury) which has been well used and also at Kyneton Market a few time (in collaboration with Kyneton Transiiton Hub). We have also been continuing the terracycle station at Woodend Library and the council has a range of boxes for collection there as well.

  2. We have been on three "Walks Against Waste" (Kyneton, Riddells Creek and Malmsbury). Our aim is to enjoy the walk and the surrounds but to also clean up any litter along the way. It's been good fun and it has been pleasing that there has not been a great deal of litter to collect (although this might partly be due to reduced activity around COVID).

  3. We also provided feedback on the council's "Waste & Resource Recovery Management Strategy 2021-2026".

Healthy Homes

James Mackenzie

The project team has been expanded to 5 MRSG members.

  1. Contact has been made with 9 local agencies.

  2. One project home has been identified and an initial energy assessment has been performed.

  3. The project team has contacted the energy supplier to investigate concerns regarding high energy billing.

  4. A generous donation was received by the project team, and the project now has funding to upgrade two suitable homes.

Sustainable Malmsbury

Kathryn Allen

  1. our second annual Community Fermentation Day

  2. up-skilling workshops on soap and cosmetic making, sourdough bread baking, cheese making, fruit tree pruning, budding and grafting

  3. skill sharing Crafternoons

  4. monthly produce swaps and recycling station with the Waste Action Group at the Malmsbury Farmers Market

  5. almost 300 subscribers to our monthly newsletter with gardening tips for our region

  6. over 400 followers on our Facebook page

  7. being part of the mini Sustainable Living Festival

Woodend Bee-Friendly Society

Ross Brierty

  1. The WBFS is still managing to generate strong interest amongst beekeepers of all levels of expertise both from within the Macedon Ranges and beyond.

  2. Limited face-to-face meetings of the club have taken place over the past 12 months due to Covid restrictions, however we did have one meeting in March 2021 which was well attended and oversubscribed.

  3. The leadership team was committed to present a beekeeping course in August 2021 however once again this was cancelled due to Covid restrictions.

  4. In October we held a Zoom meeting open to MRSG members on the topic of what to do in Spring with your bees and swarm management.
    Once again this was well attended and received fantastic feedback from a number of participants.

  5. We are aiming to conduct our first face to face meeting in the open air at our November 21 monthly meeting and once again there are signs this will also be well attended.

  6. In terms of merchandise sales of bee equipment and apparel, we have been successful throughout the year in selling a number of items online despite the restrictions.

  7. Special mention should go to all the members of the leadership team for their tireless effort throughout the year: Ross Brierty, Sam Rixon, Matty Be, Matt Croatto, and Nikki Barker

Renewable Energy

Henry Laas

  1. Secured a large grant from DELWP for the Neighbourhood Battery Initiative (MR-BIG) to research benefits of using batteries on the grid.

  2. Ran the Free Energy Efficiency Advice for Homes project with Australian Energy Foundation, funded by Macedon Ranges Shire Council.

  3. Promotion of Regenerative Forestry field day.

  4. Resolved data logging issues at the Solar Mill which feeds into Renewable Energy Fund.

  5. Provided $6,400 interest free loan to Woodend Neighbourhood House for solar installation from Renewable Energy Fund.

  6. Provided $5,000 grant to Newham CFA for solar installation from Renewable Energy Fund.

Transport

Emilie Michaille

  1. Group has been relaunched with new members of the action group

  2. We have a plan that we agreed on earlier in the year outlining activities in: walking, cycling, wayfinding, lobbying (advocacy) and public transport with a particular focus on road safety for vulnerable road users.

  3. The council has undertaken some community engagement around road safety and we have used the group to out to our wider networks to try to get more people involved.

  4. We participated in the mini SLF with a great display of electric vehicles of all sizes (from Tesla down to a foldable bike)

  5. We have had meetings with DoT and partners of the DOT to discuss the improvement of the bus service but they are awaiting funding commitments.

Sustainable Homes

Sue Barker

  1. Completed Energy Efficiency and Winter Heating project at Woodend Neighbourhood House funded by the Stronger Communities Programme from the Federal Government.

  2. Joined with REAG in a successful application for funding from Council for the Household Energy project

  3. Details responses to public enquiries regarding home energy efficiency.

AGM, Regenerative FarmersDavid Gormley-O'BrienComment